![\"Talia](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-06-19-at-12.29.01\u202fPM-e1750378828395.png\")
<\/a>Talia Suskauer and Max Chernin. Photo by Joan Marcus, as is the one above.<\/p><\/div>\n
I brought my musical theatre expert, Nina Herzog, with me. She\u2019s a very-working musical performer herself, (and has worked with this composer, which means she has personal insights,) so I asked her to share her thoughts on the show. She\u2019s fair and knowledgeable, so I trust her to give you the true lowdown. And her writing is beautiful, so it will be a treat for you.<\/p>\n
But before I turn this review over to her, I have to proffer just a few of my own<\/em> impressions of this National Tour production of Parade<\/em>, this time at the Ahmanson, with very different staging from the former one at the Taper. Nina and I both felt that this one is far superior. It\u2019s an overall excellent, high quality production in every way; I just hate the true story<\/em>.<\/p>\n I knew the horrible real-life tale going in, (which Nina will break down for you in a minute,) so I was braced for the depression. It made me realize that I love musical comedy<\/em>, not musical tragedy<\/em>. So I stick by my original long-ago assessment of the narrative, which is that I cannot understand why anyone would make a musical out of this heartbreaking incident!<\/p>\n But this time, I joined the very appreciative Opening Night audience in whooping and hollering all night.<\/p>\n Actually, there is a lot<\/em> I appreciated about this production. First of all, most of the show is performed on a very high platform in the center of the stage, which means that no one\u2019s head can block your view. And my research-minded self loved seeing the photos of the real<\/em> people who lived this horror, along with wonderful projections of items such as newspapers featuring headlines of the day, and location markers, (like my all-time favorite structure, the iconic Brooklyn Bridge.) And it\u2019s very helpful that they superimpose the dates and setting info right on the front of that platform. The whole production is well done; you can tell that tons of thought and work went into this entire presentation.<\/p>\n Andrew Samonsky and Ramone Nelson. Photo by Joan Marcus<\/p><\/div>\n It\u2019s all exciting and lovely for a while, and\u00a0then after about twenty minutes, when the main plot kicks in, I can’t bear the unfairness that happened to this couple.<\/p>\n But the music is powerful, and the talented cast of twenty-three or so are all excellent singers. The two stars, Max Chernin and Talia Suskauer, play their parts of Leo and Lucille wonderfully. My fave voice belongs to Ramone Nelson, who plays manipulated janitor, and later chain gang member, Jim Conley. I also admired the singing voices of Jack Roden, (as the deceased girl\u2019s young pal,) and Trevor James, (as a generic \u201cevery guy\u201d at the very beginning,) in their smaller roles. And if you’re casting an entertainment about J.D. Vance, look no further than his doppelg\u00e4nger, Griffin Binnicker, who plays Tom Watson here.<\/p>\n Griffin Binnicker. Photo by Joan Marcus.<\/p><\/div>\n I have two favorite lines from Parade,<\/em> both of which resonate today. First up is Leo telling his Atlanta-born wife, \u201cI don\u2019t understand how God created people to be Jewish and southern at the same time.\u201d And later, the Governor\u2019s wife declares, \u201cI\u2019d rather be a wife to a former governor than be First Lady to a chicken!\u201d (Coincidentally, Nina chose the same lines to discuss, without us even mentioning them to each other!)<\/p>\n Because I want to end this review on Nina\u2019s beautiful writing, I have to tell you about two auxiliary opportunities\u00a0now. One is that, for every show at the Ahmanson, you can enjoy the most incredible tacos right out on the side plaza of that theatre! OMG, are they delicious! And affordable<\/em>, which is a bonus in today\u2019s crazy world.<\/p>\n The other is that, through July 12th, if you arrive early, you can do a totally free guided audio \u201cwalking tour\u201d of the outdoor spaces surrounding the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre. For more details about that experience, go to www.centertheatregroup.org\/artistic-programs\/walk-with-me-ctg-an-interactive-audio-experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now here\u2019s my friend Nina Herzog\u2019s absolutely lovely and complete assessment of Parade<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s a show that doesn\u2019t simply revisit a dark chapter of American history, it dissects it, grieves it, and ultimately demands that we learn from it.<\/p>\n At its center is Leo Frank, a shy, bookish Jewish man, whose quiet nature places him starkly at odds with the loud, fervently-biased culture surrounding him in 1913 Georgia. In today\u2019s world, \u201cquiet\u201d, intellectual, introverted people still struggle to be seen, understood, and believed in our culture\u2014Parade taps into that uncomfortable truth with haunting resonance.<\/p>\n Talia Suskauer and Max Chernin. Photo by Joan Marcus.<\/p><\/div>\n His wife, Lucille, begins the show as a \u201cmousy\u201d woman\u2014soft-spoken and emotionally reserved, still not entirely settled in her marriage. But when Leo is wrongly accused of murder, we witness an extraordinary transformation\u2014which Talia Suskauer executes brilliantly. The trial becomes the crucible through which she emerges: strong, impassioned, courageous. She finds her voice\u2014and in doing so, wins not only the audience\u2019s love, but Leo\u2019s. You sense that he, too, only begins to truly see her once the noise of the world closes in. The expansion happens musically, too, and Talia\u2019s range expands into a near roar, (albeit a gorgeous one,) by the second act.<\/p>\n One of the most painful moments of the night came when the word \u201cJew\u201d was hurled onstage. A visible (and audible) shudder ran through the theater. It wasn\u2019t just a line; it was a wound being reopened, in real time. In the crowd, a Jewish woman gasped, \u201cOy,\u201d aloud when one of the final lines\u2014\u201cHe doesn\u2019t need pants where he\u2019s going\u201d\u2014made clear that Leo was being taken to be lynched. That involuntary cry wasn\u2019t just emotion\u2014it was recognition. Fear. Ancestral grief.<\/p>\n The show doesn\u2019t shy away from the brutal antisemitism Leo faces. He\u2019s the intellectual, an outsider, with a wife who has dark features among a sea of blond Southern accusers. One of Karen\u2019s aforementioned favorite lines, \u201cFor the life of me, I can\u2019t understand how God could create people who are Jewish and Southern at the same time,\u201d lands sharply, with a deep cultural sting. It speaks to the absurdity\u2014and pain\u2014of being doubly \u201cothered.\u201d The show\u2019s humor never undercuts its gravity; it deepens the resonance.<\/p>\n Photo by Joan Marcus.<\/p><\/div>\n As to the songs, what soaring music this is. The vocal range required is immense, the melodies operatic in scale and nuance. The actors don\u2019t just sing\u2014they weep, \u201cbleed\u201d, and soar. Leo and Lucille\u2019s duet late in the show, when they finally let their guard down and see one another clearly, is a triumph of vulnerability. It is raw, romantic, and devastating; my eyes welled with tears.<\/p>\n Lucille\u2019s arc is a study in spiritual resilience. In one early scene, she cautions Leo not to be \u201ctoo Jewish\u201d\u2014a heartbreaking nod to the way Jewish people have long been forced to measure their safety of visibility or navigate how much to assimilate for survival. That fear, sadly, still resonates today as antisemitism rises once again. But by the end, Lucille reclaims her strength and her identity. She stays in Georgia after Leo\u2019s lynching\u2014not as a victim, but as a resister. She holds her ground. As the direction subtly suggests, she rebuilds a life, even re-hiring the black housekeeper who once worked for them\u2014together, a different kind of family.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s the line that Karen mentioned in her<\/em> take of the show, uttered by the Governor\u2019s wife, which brought the house down. Karen wrote it literally, but it translates to basically, \u201cI\u2019d rather be married to a man who doesn\u2019t get elected than to a man who doesn\u2019t have enough courage to do the right thing.\u201d In today\u2019s political climate, the line doesn\u2019t just land\u2014it detonates. The opening night crowd roared. It\u2019s a reminder that integrity and justice must always outweigh blind allegiance to power.<\/p>\n Chris Shyer in the center. Photo by Joan Marcus.<\/p><\/div>\n As someone who has had the extraordinary privilege of learning from, knowing, and working with the composer and lyricist of Parade<\/em>, Jason Robert Brown, I can say this: he writes songs like monologues. When I once sang for his composer workshop, he asked me to deliver a song not as a vocalist<\/em>, but as an actor<\/em> in a monologue \u2014and the experience changed me. The way he writes\u2014melodies shaped by emotion, lyrics that drive story\u2014is nothing short of theatrical genius. I later had the chance to work with him again, recording demos for his The Bridges of Madison County<\/em> at Capitol Records. That show, like Parade<\/em>, gave voice to a quiet woman\u2019s awakening, capturing inner transformation through music. It\u2019s a through-line in Jason\u2019s work: he lifts the overlooked to center stage, the quiet voice finds its boldness.<\/p>\n The show closes with Leo reciting the Shema Yisrael<\/em> prayer\u2014his final declaration of faith and identity. It is gutting and holy. He also says, \u201cGod has a reason for this.\u201d It\u2019s a hard line to hear when faced with such cruelty.<\/p>\n With gorgeous, painterly direction and an unforgettable score, Parade<\/em> is not just a musical\u2014it\u2019s a reckoning. And it leaves no heart untouched.<\/p>\n I, Karen, can add only\u2014what she<\/em> said.<\/p>\n Parade<\/em> running through July 12, 2025<\/strong> PARADE I had seen this musical sixteen years ago at the Mark Taper Forum, and while I totally recognize the merits of it, (then and now,) the true story is just way too sad for me. But I had heard so many good things about this Michael Arden-directed revival, (which turned-out to be correct,) that<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n Ahmanson Theatre 135 N. Grand Avenue<\/strong>
\n 213-972-4400 www.centertheatregroup.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"